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The Creator
Many cultures throughout the Shattered Isles believe in a great creator responsible for the existance of the world, and they are supported in that belief by some of the more powerful spirits of the outer realms, such as the Sanhedrin. However even in the divinely active, magical world of the Isles, there is no way of knowing whether or not such a belief holds any truth. Even those who believe in a single creator vary on the specifics. Some belief that the creator is benevolant, or uncaring, or actively malevolant. Many believe that the creator actually created the universe, while others believe that he/she/it was merely the first being, and defined the form it should take. Some of the more common cultural interpretations of the Creator are as follows. The Synod Church of Relanter The first major religious philosophy to adamantly profess belief in the creator. Long ago, the Relians were sun-worshippers, and in their rituals they gained the attentions of a race from the Solar Plane; the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin claimed to be servants of a single divine creator, who charged them with keeping the world in balance. With this revelation the Relians underwent a profound transformation into a deeply religious society, believing absolutely in a noble and austere creator who seeks the world to be a perfectly balanced measure of all things, good and evil included. The Relians call the creator ATO, and envision him as a perfect being made of light. They do not consider the worship of ordinary or "lesser" deities as heretical, but believe that any such worship must be purely out of respect for their virtues, and that only ATO is worthy of completely unconditional worship. The Haskellan Prelacy Haskell was a former synod priest who allowed his heretical beliefs to be public after the Relanter Theocracy allowed the provinces to secede and worship as they chose to. Haskell believed that many of the basic tenets of the Church were true, but he did not believe in maintaining the balance. He posited that the creator may have been testing creation by telling it stay in balance. He preached that the creator wants creation to be good and altruistic, but for that altruism to have meaning, it must be self-chosen. According to this theory, the Sanhedrin were merely meant to serve as divine 'gatekeepers' to maintain the balance for those who have yet to pick a side. Haskells teachings have blossomed and flourished throughout his homeland of Ridahn, and some of the nearby islands. As far as Haskell and his followers are concerned, the creator wants his followers to think outside the box and question the universe. The creator wants people to be brave enough to challenge even the apparent laws of creation itself in the pursuit of goodness. The Haskellan Prelacy actively allow and promote the worship of ordinary gods that meet their noble and altruistic philosophy. So much so that outsiders often dont realise that there is a monistic philosophy beneath their grand pantheonic cathedrals. Druidic Religion While Druids dont usually rule out the possiblity of a single creator, they almost universally scoff at the idea. In the eyes of the druids, a single creator being responisble for everything is too convenient an answer. They teach that the interplay of natural forces and energies created the world on its own, and that the gods are merely heroes from ancient times who first learnt to comprehend and accept the universe. Druids who do believe in a single creator tend to view it as female, and are more than often members of elven sects. Ferranic druids who believe in a single creator are not censored or repressed, but the idea does not hold with most Ferranes ideals, and such druids rarely have a strong following.